Metro Airport tower due for mold cleanup

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Metro Airport tower due for mold cleanup

Controllers union says it's not enough

May 13, 2005

http://www.freep.com/money/business/mold13e_20050513.htm

BY JEWEL GOPWANI

FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

The Federal Aviation Administration is to remove toxic mold from the

air traffic control tower at Detroit Metro Airport next week.

A union official said the plan is flawed and won't do enough to fix

a mold problem the administration discovered in September. The issue

prompted an inquiry signed by nine members of Congress.

The FAA is paying MIS Corp. of Saginaw $25,000 to replace drywall on

the fourth and ninth floors of the tower to remove the mold, said

FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro.

The project should take five to six days. Work will take place

between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., he said.

Vince Sugent, president of the union local that represents 41 air

traffic controllers, said there are problems with the

administration's plan, including the federal agency's expectation

that employees will stay in the tower during the cleanup.

" We want this thing stopped and done properly, " said Sugent, of the

National Air Traffic Controllers Association. " The mistakes that

they're going to make are paramount. "

A cleanup plan such as this can be carried out with air traffic

controllers in the tower and pose a minimal risk to employees, as

long as the contractor contains the atmosphere properly, said Dr.

Harbut, chief at the Center for Occupational and

Environmental Medicine in Royal Oak.

But Harbut said: " Air traffic controllers with any history of

allergy probably ought not to be working, just as a matter of

safety. "

If the controllers were to vacate the tower, they would have to work

in an older tower by the terminal that was used in January

during an earlier cleanup attempt.

The FAA's plan also does not address a union office on the 10th

floor, where the union's own tests detected mold.

The FAA said it has not detected mold in the tower cab, where

controllers work.

But during the past few months, Sugent said, air traffic controllers

have been complaining about stuffy noses and dry and itchy eyes.

" The job before us now is for everyone to work together on an agreed-

upon plan that fully ensures the health and safety of the workers in

the Metro Airport control tower. Our air traffic controllers work

hard to protect the flying public; they certainly deserve the same

care, " said U.S. Rep. Dingell. The Democrat from Dearborn was

one of the nine members of Congress who signed a letter asking about

the situation.

It has taken the FAA more than seven months to deal with the tower's

mold problem.

The January attempt to spray the mold prompted an evacuation of the

tower after controllers complained of nausea, lightheadedness and

headaches.

The people on duty that day were evacuated for about five hours and

worked in the terminal tower until later that evening.

" We took it really slow to make sure everyone knew exactly what was

being planned, " Molinaro said.

In its response to the congressional letter, the FAA wrote that it

canceled its first request for bids in December because

of " excessive cost and disparity between bids, " and rebid the

contract.

The union worries that the FAA is cutting corners. So far the

administration has spent at least $15,900 on the mold problem in the

tower, Molinaro said.

Contact JEWEL GOPWANI at 313-223-4550 or gopwani@....